Lani Plays Amnesia: Justine
by RockinAnime
Summary: Suffering a fate like Daniel's, Justine hears a strange voice in her head as she tries to finish a strange journey.
1. Part 1

A/N: The entire Let's Play is on YouTube, I recommend seeing it especially for everything Lani says outside of the game. Still going to Otakon for any that care and on day one my best friend will be Daniel and I will be her player shouting at her to run. Also, I know very little about Portal so I can't really make many references like I should here, sorry. On that note, I'm back~.

"**-I get. I'm not waiting the whole game this time.**"

One of the suitors bellowed as Justine awoke with a fright to the sound.

"**Ok, I sound like a woman.**"

Her head hurt and she saw that she was lying in a prison cell. She was still in a dazed state and assumed the voice she heard came from the same place as those chains that were rattling just outside the barred door. Justine looked over, trying to catch her breath as if awaking from a night-terror as the voice was obscured by the sheer noise pounding at her ears. She saw nothing outside and her vision was being invaded by darkness as she fought the urge to sleep. The voice sounded like none of her suitors though.

"**Maybe I'm one of Daniel's victims.**"

_Daniel? Obviously that is not you, but who exactly are you? You've never been part of my experiments before…perhaps I've finally drugged myself into madness. Oh, merde._

Noises still pounded against Justine's ears and head as she pulled herself up to her feet. A rope had been tied to the outer side of the door and somewhere above her. She only stood a moment before falling into the dark slumber of amnesia.

"**Rope…leading to door…still can't quite stand up for me, huh?**"

Justine whimpered as she awoke fully. She shook her head to force her drowsiness away and fully awake to wherever she was.

"**Move a little.**"

The voice made strange sounds as she shook herself and Justine thought there must be someone there watching her.

"**Wake up, lady, wake up, wake up.**"

Having someone watch her was frightening and Justine looked towards the door to see who was there. She saw nothing and no one save a rope. Justine pulled herself to her feet, having much more balance now, and looked around for a person. There was still no one.

"**Grab your brush and put on a little make up. Ok, I can move now.**"

The voice mumbled and Justine grew infuriated as she found no one in the cell. Fear and worry over her location were noticeably dulled by her concern with the voice.

_I will find you, salaud._

Justine tried to find him past the door. The man speaking had to be nearby.

"**Woah, plus a little lag. I don't know what's up there, never done that to me…**"

After seeing nothing through the bars Justine checked the cell again. She saw a phonograph but no man. The door it was then. To her dismay the door would not open, though in a prison cell that is to be expected.

"**Kay…something's wrong.**"

It was locked firmly.

"**Yes, it is locked firmly.**"

_Where are you?_

The rope ended on the crank of the phonograph. Justine figured she had to play it now, even if it did give away that she was awake to anyone else.

"**Ok, hold on while I pause and check something in my video options.**"

_Your what?_

"**All right, let's see if that fixed it. Ok…**"

_Fixed WHAT?_

The voice made odd sounds as Justine looked over the phonograph before finally cranking it to play.

"**Ok, I'll crank you, I guess. Why not?**"

The voice sang a ditty with short syllables and a woman's voice came from the phonograph, interrupting him.

"Bienvenue, you are now listening to the sound of my disembodied voice."

"**Ah shit, it's the French!**"

_Va t'empaler encule!_

"It will serve you no purpose to look for me, for this is a voice from the past."

_At least I know where your voice is coming from._

"**M'kay.**"

The woman's voice seemed like it would break into laughter any moment.

"I bid you welcome to my cabinet of perturbation. It is my study of the human psyche – specifically yours. A set of recordings have been prepared to chaperone you through the chambers ahead."

"**Gotcha.**"

"There are a few parts to this study and it is up to you – not only to pass-"

"**Kay.**"

"-but figure out what elements are important."

"**Pff - yeah, 'cause I'm so good at that.**"

"Please go on, move into the next chamber. Just remember they can all be saved, there is always a way."

The recording ended.

"**They can all be saved…**"

The voice gasped as Justine saw a lantern at the end of the door's rope hanging above her.

"**Like my precious lantern. I have saved you, lantern!**"

_Just for that, I refuse to use it._

Justine still took it though. The rope pulled at the door's lock before breaking it and freeing Justine.

"**You can thank me la- …or you can thank me now, I guess. All right.**"

The door squeaked open, much too loud for comfort. Justine was fairly brave though and a noisy door was not too frightening.

"**So, uh…**"

Justine jumped with a small grunt to see if being higher would assist her in seeing anyone. It did not.

"**Yep, I'm clearly playing as a girl. Come on, open up, ok.**"

Justine opened the door and left down the dark hall confused.

_Playing? I'm a game to you? What do you mean by this, you think that you're me?_

"**Just rusty or something. So I'm playing as a girl, so am I Justine or…?**"

Wind echoed through the hall with a loud, shrill cry. Wind was wind though; Justine was more interested with the name. She did not remember hers so Justine seemed a good name to have for now.

"**Shut up, castle!**"

Justine walked on, liking the voice slightly more.

"**Or was that voice Justine?**"

_That's definitely a possibility, though I'd like to know where you even heard the name Justine._

She wanted to reward the voice's entertaining company by lighting the lantern. There was no oil though and she had none on her.

_Pitty._

"**Really, I have no lantern oil?**"

_I'm afraid so, Monsieur Voice. I should name you, seeing as you have no introduced yourself._

Naming would have to wait as the castle shook just enough to let Justine know she should be moving.

"**Ok…SHUT…**"

Justine tried the lantern a few more times just in case. There was no so much as a flicker of light.

"**Good way to start this out…ugh…**"

The path split and Justine went to the right. The castle seemed to growl at her as she reached a dead end and the voice changed to an imitation.

"**Angry walls!**"

_Oh you are just a treat. As for your name I'm thinking François would be lovely, it simply means French. I know how much you love the French._

The wind continued to howl as Justine and François went to the left.

"**Anyway…**"

Something that was distinctly not the wind or the castle wailed and then growled.

_That can't be good._

"**What?**"

There was a barred half-circle window to the floor below and for a few moments Justine saw a strange figure through it.

"**Hey, buddy.**"

The figure limped out of sight.

"**HEY, BUDDY! Can you tell me something? Was the voice Justine or was that me? Like, or am I Justine? You know what I mean. You know what? Based on, like, the crap that I've dealt with from the past, I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's possible…that it's both.**"

_What did you go through to reach that conclusion?_

While walking about Justine found a cave in that offered her a broken ladder.

"**Maybe I'm doing this to myself.**"

_Well wouldn't that be illogical and cruel._

Justine took the broken ladder, using a long, decorative cord wrapped around her waist to tie it onto her back so her arms could stay of use. She then searched for an actual way out.

"**Kay…still, take it…would not be surprised if that were the twist, that this girl is also schizophrenic.**"

_Given that I'm hearing you, François, neither would I. I'm assuming you're in my head, but who knows?_

"**Like Daniel…**"

_Who is this Daniel fellow? Come now, if you're in my head you should be able to hear my thoughts._

"**But you know what, I'm gonna pray for the best for this girl.**"

_How chivalrous of you, François._

Justine found a door by a lit lantern and pulled it open, foolishly hitting herself with it.

_I suppose amnesia makes one clumsy._

"**Why are these all pull doors?**"

Past the door was a large room filled with boxes, barrels, and many cells.

"**Let's see…**"

Exploring was in order, so Justine entered the unlocked cell to her right. François whistled as she heard the playing of a piano in her head.

_Oh, François, are you playing for me or am I just suffering another delusion?_

"**Sounds…**"

_I'll take that to mean it is not you._

"**Let's see if I can remember all these controls…**"

…_is it?_

Justine crouched to see under the end table and amongst the loose straws. Nothing was there.

"**That's crouch…**"

…_._

The piano stopped but Justine was busy with a small glass bottle that had been on the table.

"**Hello, bottle.**"

Nothing was inside so Justine let it be and left. Light filtered in from above and she could have sworn she heard a bird take flight as she headed to the cell across the room. François hummed as they reached the unlocked cell door but stopped before they entered. Once inside something bellowed from within the larger room. Justine stayed hidden within the cell but turned her attention to the door.

"**Oh…we've already found our first monster, if that indeed is the sound of a monster.**"

_First monster? François are you not telling me something?_

"**Is it the sound of a monster?**"

Justine was leaning herself in a rather awkward position to see out. Whatever it was made a growling noise and she quickly ducked back in.

"**Oh yeah, it clearly is, 'cause there's the drums.**"

_Drums? François we are not even with the piano anymore, what drums are you talking about?_

"**Monsters love their drums! Let's see what these fuckers look like.**"

Justine waited in the cell's doorway, crouched down low. She could see out just find and told herself that so long as she was in this position whatever was out there would simply pass her by without notice.

"**Come on, show yo'self…unless you're to my left…which I am gonna be honest, it kind of sounds like you are with these headphones.**"

The thing gave exasperated and labored breaths, it was probably in more pain than it could even inflict. Suddenly, a man-shaped creature crawled into Justine's sight. It had rattling chains wrapped around at least one of its legs and something around its neck, there seemed to be nothing else physically on the bald man so he was most likely naked. Being at this distance may have hindered Justine's vision but it provided her safety from what was most likely either a monster or a rapist. He may have been a simple prisoner but he was headed towards the hall and she was taking no chances.

"**Oh thank God you're not. You are right there.**"

The man had stopped an even looked toward where Justine was. He must not have seen her though as he continued out.

"**Yeah, that's right, keep walking. I may not have a pig to hide me, but I ain't afraid of you!**"

_How would a pig help?_

"How could this happen?"

It was the man. While François did overpower most of his words they were still clear to Justine.

"Come back…!"

He was a rather whiney monster, he sounded on the verge of sobbing.

"**Unless maybe I'm a fat chick, in which case, you know…pig and all that….**"

_I assure you, François, I am fit as a fiddle._

The man's chains rattled down the hall as Justine quietly approached the door out. He was breathing horribly and most would see him a poor victim or a baby in need.

_He is man and should be fit to care for himself. He's earned no pity from me._

"**I'm gonna lock you out there.**"

Justine could not lock the door, but she could close him out.

"**Deal with it! Aw yeah!**"

The closing door drew the man's attention and Justine headed for the cell just in case. Soon the man let it be as he did not return and Justine walked to the door to be sure.

"**Stop playing your drums! Shut your God damn drums up! Yu hear me?**"

There was a barred window on the door and Justine saw no one through it. She was perfectly safe.

"**I will take those away!**"

_There must be drums where you are but I promise you there are none here, François. Please, I can't let the voice in my head be crazy now can I?_

Justine returned to the cell to search it in peace. She remembered seeing a piece of paper there and it was still waiting on the ground when she returned.

"**That's better. I saw a piece of paper over here…**"

Justine crouched to pick it up and François began reading. His accent was atrocious but very entertaining so Justine allowed him to read aloud for her rather than bother with it herself.

"**Le twenty-second avril, 1858.**"

François decided to stop trying to use his accent.

"**Salutation, Inspector Marot of…Surete Nationale?**"

_Sûreté Nationale, François._

"**As you very well know, the chief of police in Calais has turned down my request to pursue **_**JUSTINE FLORBELLE**_** for stealing my son away.**"

_I love how you say my name, François._

"**Ever since their affair started, El-wa-**"

_Alois._

"**-my son, has forsaken his duties to his family and failed to pursue his career.**"

_Aren't I the enchantress~?_

"**Since the law seems unable to find a crime within the realm of Mademoiselle Justine's actions, I will ask you to receive Dr. Victor Fournier…later this week. He is a respectable…ali-en…alien-ist-aye?**"

_Aliéniste, François._

"**Whatever. An expert in human psyche, and he believes he may have found a legal way to incarcerate her. If he is able to diagnose her as an h- as a hysteric, it would provide you an excuse to have her locked up. I trust you and your agency will not turn us down. Cordial-meh-meh…**"

_Cordialement, François._

"**Lucien Racine.**"

The entertainment was over and Justine tucked the note away for later.

"**Ra-kin…Ray-seen…**"

_Racine._

Justine left to find something else of use or entertainment.

"**If you haven't noticed, my French is terrible.**"

_But very amusing, François._

"**Which still begs the question, am I Justine?**"

_I believe so._

There was yet another cell without a lock, if only hers had been that way, and inside it Justine heard the sounds of labor. It was like being in a carpenter's work place. There was sawing, hammering, and the clanking of metal all around accompanied by a man's panting from the hard work.

"**Somebody likes woodwork…kay.**"

There was no piece of paper and almost nothing other than chairs and shackles.

"**I prefer metal.**"

_What a man you are, François._

Justine left the cell, hearing the bird take flight again. Across the hall was another cell with something in view and a lever beside it.

"**What's in this door?**"

A body became clear as did the padlock on the door.

"**A dead body-**"

"Whoever you are, if you could help me, I would be much obliged."

Justine went to take a closer look. It was definitely the man speaking. He was held down on a table inside the cell with a piece of what looked like burlap tied over his head. It was a rather pathetic sight.

"**Not a dead body…**"

Justine lifted the padlock to inspect it. Clearly it was there to stay.

"**Welp, I don't have my chisel.**"

A bell tolled and Justine tried to open the door but it simply would not budge.

"Help me, please, help me."

"**Let's see…he's sitting directly under a spear…**"

Justine looked to the lever and back to the man.

"**Spear…lever…I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if I pull that he's gonna die.**"

_More than likely, yes._

"**Oh, ok. Ok…**_**that's**_** what they mean by you can save them, there is a way. Ok, what's the way to save you?**"

_I would be nothing short of amazed if this worked but…._

Justine took one of the nearby boxes and threw it at the padlock. Puzzles were not something she appreciated.

"**No…maybe something down here….**"

There was a series of barred casements on the ground, though only one had hinges. Justine tried to pull it open but it would not budge for her.

_Zut._

"**Nope, uh…well there are more rooms.**"

"Can you hear me?"

_Yes you big baby, I hear you._

"**Yes!**"

"It is not too late to set things right."

_Conneries._

"**Uh…ok, whatever dude. I'll deal with – come on, I'm trying. I'm not Daniel.**"

_François I want to know who this Daniel is. It isn't nice to toy with me._

The next cell featured a bed with a bible on it and the sounds of church bells ringing as a man panted madly.

"**Somebody REALLY loves their bible!**"

Justine almost giggled like a school girl, but the man's incoherent chanting took the fun out of it all. François' mocking did try to remedy that.

"**Make my eyes rain!**"

Even though Justine did not completely understand the joke it was a nice attempt.

"**Tropic Thunder** **reference, gotta love it.**"

_If I knew Tropic Thunder, perhaps I would._

There was an archway that led to a dark room. Justine absent mindedly tried to light her lantern but remembered its uselessness when nothing happened. Cockroaches hissed somewhere around her. They were vile creatures but did no harm.

"**Let's try over here – that's right, no uh…yeah, **_**hiss**_** that. Shut up roaches, you're not nearly as cute as the rats.**"

_At least rats are furry._

The dark space was small and held nothing, it was only fit to stand and wait in. There was another open cell though, and to Justine's delight there was a note on a small table. The table had blood on it, both as words and claw marks. The table read 'Forgive me'.

"**Forgive me…**"

The sounds of the cell rose up. A man was making grunts of effort as something was being hit with a thump repeatedly. After a final hit there was the sound of clapping. It was the sound of a sport, something like racquetball.

"**Now they're playing tennis? Yes, that was the sound of tennis, ok.**"

The sounds were gone so Justine's next entertainment was to be the note.

"_**Forgive me!**_"

Right after François pretended to be a whining ghost.

"**Ok, let's see…**"

The note was written with much care given to the calligraphy. This was a love note someone had put their soul into. IT was curious to Justine how someone locked in a cell could be happy and complacent enough to write like this. The words must have sounded just as lovely but rather than read through she allowed François the chance again.

"_**Justine, my love, I know I am not as talented as Malo or as strong as Basile, but I am certain my love is truer. Do not my scars tell you so? I will continue to**_** cut myself as long as it pleases you…**"

_Oh dear, there went the happy tone._

"**I would even kill Basile if you wish…. I know you say…you like it, but he is hurting you. I will trick him to consume the Bromide. Poor Justine, I will help, just ask me to help.**"

The note was signed by Alois. It had to be the same Alois as from the previous letter given the dedication and sincerity.

"**Ok…that got creepy really quick**_**. El-wa**_**.**"

_It is 'Alois', François._

"**El-wa must be Daniel's pen name.**"

_Well now I want to meet this Alois, or Daniel as it was. The cell is empty but he may have escaped like I have. We could have so much fun together, the three of us._

François sang with DOs as Justine ran about for a new place to search.

"Anyone there?"

_Not unless your name is Daniel or Alois, I'm not._

"**YES! Jesus, I will spear you if you do not shut up.**"

_I understand the temptation, but if that is Alois or Daniel then we can't simply kill him._

Above Justine was an upper level that held at least a trove of boxes. She looked around but that was the only place with them.

"**Boxes up there…nothing up there…**"

A chair had been knocked over and Justine picked it up. Nothing seemed to be here and it was infuriating. To vent, Justine hit the chair on the ground and left it.

_C'est des conneries._

"**Oo, a bottle – no it's not lantern oil.**"

François may have been disappointed, but a vial of laudanum was a fine reward to Justine.

"**It's fucking laudanum.**"

_So sorry, François._

Justine took a barrel with her to work out an idea she had.

"**You know what, I'm gonna see if there's, like, a way to get in…there, through, like, some air duct or something.**"

_Good to know we share a mind after all._

Justine positioned the barrel near the hideaway of boxes above her.

"**No, here…see what I can do.**"

It was a long way up and a lot of stacking was in order.

"**God this's gonna be a…**"

_It will be worth it, François._

Justine took another barrel to place in front of the other.

"**Whatever, I have the free time, it's my game.**"

_If you treat it like a game, then I shall too._

"**Whether you guys wanna watch me or not is completely up to you – I try to be entertaining.**"

_There are others? Are they with you or are they watching you from afar? Are they in your head like you are in mine Is Daniel there? May I speak with him?_

Justine placed a third barrel.

"**Let's see…**"

No more barrels or boxes were within reach so Justine ran for more as François quietly sang.

"How did you escape?"

Justine continued ignoring the man and took a locked chest with her.

"**Um…by not being – well here's the thing, I grabbed a lantern. Do that.**"

_Best advice I have ever heard, François._

"**Grabbing a lantern helps.** **Kay, um…**"

Her efforts and enthusiasm were not at their highest when Justine dropped the chest on top of the barrels only to have it fall off.

_Stupid chest…_

"**You have to build a staircase here anyway, so…**_**sss**_**…**_**ssss – **_**stay.**"

Justine tried to position the chest but it threatened to fall each time.

"**No, **_**ssss – **_**stay.**"

It fell.

"**No. No! Bad box!**"

She tried again.

"**Come on.**"

It fell again. François shouted through his gritted teeth.

"**No! No! Bad box! Stay.**"

It stayed.

"**Good box. Let's move a little closer here…stay!**"

Justine pulled the chest closer to the front of the barrel line and it stayed where she put it.

"**Good box.**"

That had taken far too long to finish and the next object Justine saw to use was the chair she had used to beat the ground.

"**I'm gonna stack a chair on you.**"

_Something tells me it won't cooperate…._

"**This is gonna be the greatest staircase ever.**"

_Whatever you say, François._

"**It's actually kinda getting there, that's kinda cool…**"

Justine had to stretch a bit but she managed to place the chair on the chest at the end.

"**Uh…I want another one…box or something.**"

Chairs only made things harder so Justine ran for the one she threw at the padlock earlier.

"**Whoops, wrong button. It's been so long….**"

"Have you seen Justine?"

_I'm fairly certain she was the voice from the past now but I'm borrowing her name until I learn my own._

"**Maybe I am her, I don't know yet.**"

Justine took the box and tried to jump onto the bottom barrel. She stumbled and in the process of keeping herself from falling over she accidently knocked over everything she had stacked with her box. François howled.

"**NOOOO!**"

_Oh dear…._

"**Fucking box!**"

Only one of the barrels had fallen and Justine focused on it first.

"**How do I lift you? How do I turn you?** **Is there a way to manipulate these that I'm unaware of…?**"

Justine refused to rotate the barrel just yet; she wanted to see if François had the ability to or if he truly had no say in the real world. There was a pause.

"**Man, what I wouldn't give for a, you know, control analysis or anything…nothing? Ok.**"

Justine almost sighed in disappointment and dropped the barrel to the ground. She hated that there was no fun to be had and threw the barrel up in a mini tantrum. The barrel hit part of a beam above her and landed in the optimum position.

"**Hey! Magic.**"

…_conneries!_

Justine positioned the barrel nonetheless, unsure if François or dumb luck had done that. She threw the chest to see if François would do it again, inadvertently making it impossible to hear what he had said. François had a fondness of fast speaking and mumbling. Not understanding the voice in your head was highly annoying. She continued to throw the chest, wanting François to do it again.

_Show me your 'magic' and I will do whatever you want!_

The chest landed upside down.

_That may work but it is not right side up._

"**It's like flipping a God damn coin and trying to get it to land on its side and shit.**"

_Oh, boo-hoo._

Justine placed the chest and reached down for the box that had ruined everything. This time it stacked nicely onto the chest at the end. She jumped down from the first barrel and threw the chair.

_I want to see proper magic, François._

"**You know what, here, I'm gonna grab one of these other…chairs that are already up like this.**"

_Fine._

François mumbled as Justine took one of the chairs from the table and brought it to the stack, jumping her way up the makeshift stairs.

"**Just want to set you…now don't knock anything down this time.**"

_Va te faire foutre, trouduc!_

Justine still held the chair when she stood atop the top box, inches away from the upper level.

"**Ah, so close!**"

Justine backed down and attempted to stack the chair.

"_**Sss **_**– stay – no. Stay.**"

It was soon made clear that a chair was a horrible addition to a staircase.

"**And I can't jump onto a chair, ok.**"

Justine flung the thing behind her without thought.

"**Fuck it, I'm gonna grab one of these other boxes.**"

Back at the top of her staircase Justine stretched to grab one of the boxes from the above level. She managed to grab another locked chest.

"**There, you'll do.**"

It stacked crookedly and after a few attempts to use it as it was she fell down. Justine was unharmed but her ego and patience could not say the same.

"**Come on…come on! Come on, girl! Gah! Women…**"

_Brûle en enfer, branleur!_

Justine jumped back up and worked to fix the chest.

"**I think her odds of survival are better than Daniel's…**"

It simply would not cooperate and Justine threw the chest as well as the box beneath it to either side of her in a fit.

"**Over here – ok, ok! Ok, I got this shit, I got this.**"

_For your sake you'd better._

Justine took the chest and went to stack it first.

"**Ok, stand back and be…somewhat amused.**"

_I am not amused._

With the chest stacked Justine went to find the box.

"**Where'd you go? God damnit. Ok, ok!**"

With the box in hand once more Justine returned up the staircase with no more tolerance for this nonsense.

"**Swear to God, there better be something up here!**"

Justine dropped the box into a corner formed by two beams and finally made it all the way up.

"**I have gone through all this trouble – and I have made it!**"

_Finally!_

Justine flung boxes down to the ground and out of her way in search of something useful.

"**Get down there! All of you – all the boxes! Down there! Ok…I'm terrible at throwing shit in this game's physics. Ok I was gonna say, if that didn't land down there…**"

At last Justine saw something.

"**Oh, there is something. Lantern oil, lantern oil, lantern oil! Come on lantern oil! Ah…looks like tinder.**"

In the very back corner was a wax cylinder for a phonograph. The only phonograph Justine knew of was back the way the man went and she would not risk her safety for curiosity, she would simply find another one.

"**Wax cylinder…neither. Ok well, maybe that's important? Any doors…? Nothing…God damnit. Yeah I'm not letting you go either, get out of here.**"

Justine threw the last box she was able to lift over the edge. Larger boxes were left but they were not worth the effort.

"**You know, fuck it, you – you can stay, I've wasted enough time.**"

Justine no longer cared about safety, only time, so jumped straight to the ground rather than spend time with the stairs.

_I don't give a fuck anymore, c'est des conneries!_

Justine landed with a firm thud but did not falter.

"**Ow, my ankles!**"

_Ta gueule, François!_

"**Anyway…um…**"

"Anyone there?"

_TA GUEULE!_

"**Oh my God…oh my God, I'm so stupid.**"

_I know I probably don't want to know, but why are you stupid?_

Justine looked up and stepped to the side seeing a small square hatch on the ceiling.

…_._

She walked back and forth through the room, determined to remain calm.

"**That door…oh my God…ok, well at least I got the wax cylinder out of it…yeah.**"

With a barrel in hand, Justine went to build another staircase.

_Yes…the wax cylinder…we absolutely need that…we need the wax cylinder – BAISE! VIENS M'ENCULER! BAISE TOI! Va te faire foutré, François! Tu es stupide, tu es un ane, ta mere suce des bites en enfer, et tout cela es de ta faute! Partir-tu loins de moi, fils de pute!_

"**Shut up!**"

_NON! Tu te taire!_

"**Ok, I'll get you out of there or something.**"

_Je te déteste._

"Help me, please, help me."

"**Oh God, that's an even higher stack. This is gonna be a pain in my ass.**"

_François why are you laughing? And what do you mean a pain in YOUR ass I'm doing all the work! How do I know you even fixed the damn barrel in the first place?_

Justine took one of the barrels from the bottom of the stack but nothing fell.

"**Jenga!**"

_This is too fucking time consuming!_

She hit the barrel against the one she had already placed.

"**No, j-just stay.**"

_Enculer une mouche, François!_

Justine caught the barrel as it fell off the other.

"**No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.**"

She slammed it on the ground and made it stand upright.

_UGH!_

"**Only I can't just do that – there, good deal…**"

"Can you hear me?"

_OUI! FERME TA BOUCHE!_

"**Yes.**"

"It is not too late to set things right."

"**Yeah, I think it is now.**"

Justine took the other barrel, collapsing her tower, and went to continue the new staircase. This was quickly becoming more work than it was worth.

"**And I don't know what I'd be setting right, honestly. I mean, I haven't done anything wrong – unless I have. Please don't let that be the same plot twist.**"

"How did you escape?"

_I know you must be repeating this because you can't see I'm here and just ignoring you but ferme ta baise bouche._

"**Lantern. This is gonna be a fucking tall stack, hopefully I open that up and there's a ladder there.**"

_We should be so lucky._

One of the chests was added to the stack.

"**We're gonna do this shit…hopefully I don't have any more boxes – know what? I wouldn't have been able to make it up there without all these boxes. **_**I**_** did the right thing.**"

A box was added.

_This is not much of a victory, François._

"**I'm totally gonna keep trying to justify this!**"

"Have you seen Justine?"

"**No! Shut the fuck up, man.**"

_I'm starting to like you again, François._

"**Jesus Christ, you and this Justine…are you that guy that was cutting himself?**"

Justine knocked the stacked box over with the one she had in hand.

_I already said he could be Alois, François. Pay attention!_

"**Yeah, I'm – I'm an awesome stacker. You know, I'm – I'm just amazing.**"

_Sarcasm or not, help me!_

"**You don't even KNOW about my stacking skills, ok?**"

_No, I don't know. Why? Because you won't stack anything! You're the man, why aren't you doing this?_

Justine tried to stretch herself far enough to stack the fallen box on top. She was not quite tall enough and had to catch it as it fell again.

"**See? You don't even know how I do shit like that.**"

_For your sake I'll use English this time. I hate you._

This time it stacked properly.

"**Is it tall enough yet?**"

She could not get to the top.

"**I need another box. Fan-freaking-tastic. Gotta build a God damn staircase to get up to that. Shit…**"

Justine added two boxes at the end and tested her jump, noticing that she could only go so high. Her dress was not suited for this, but it was the only thing she had with pockets large enough to carry whatever she needed.

"**So I can't jump on top of two boxes…**"

She moved the second box to a better spot on the tower but still could not reach the top.

_This is pure aggravation for me. If this is a game it's not a very fun one._

"**Oh Jesus, come on…**"

It simply would not work, so an infuriated Justine leapt down for another box to stack, hitting a cell door with it on her way back.

"**I'm gonna keep doing this until I can make a God damn staircase I can just walk up and down.**"

"Anyone there?"

_YES!_

"**YES! Christ…shouldn't be – maybe if I sneak he won't notice me.**"

Quietly this time, Justine took one of the boxes and carefully treaded back to her staircase. The man said nothing as she passed.

_Sweet silence._

She stacked the box and went back for another.

"Help me, please, help me."

_You are tempting me to pull that lever!_

"**If you shut up, maybe. Christ, I'm doing my best! What do you want? I'm probably just like a little girl or something.**"

_I am a grown woman, thank you! While I would not want to, I could easily prove it to you if you were here, François._

Justine jumped with a few huffs to stack the next box.

"**I mean, listen to me.**"

_Va te faire foutre, trouduc._

Finally the staircase was complete and Justine could pull the small door open.

"**Ah, ladd – hm…**"

There was a ladder, but it was too high up to reach.

"**Wait!**"

_No._

Justine had no time for waiting. She untied the cord to free herself from the broken ladder she had found earlier.

"**Wait a minute, hold on…hold on…**"

_No, François._

Somehow Justine made the ladder click into place so that she could climb it properly. François celebrated as she tied the cord back around her waist.

"**AH-HA!**"

Justine leapt up and took hold of the ladder. Luckily it stayed in place as she hoisted herself up and into a dark place filled with tunnels.

_Little girl, huh?_

"**Yeah! Do your pull-ups. Ok, now how do I save him…ok I'm just gonna keep going.**"

_We didn't kill him; that's good enough for me._

Fog and cobwebs filled the tunnels and made it an absolutely abominable place to be as Justine crawled through. François made up another ditty using only single syllable sounds, but he was promptly stopped when a howl like the one from earlier echoed through the tunnels.

_Viens m'enculer._

Justine backed up as quickly as she could while crawling in large a dress with a useless lantern in hand. François mumbled something but whatever was near was far louder than him. The sound came closer and closer until she could have sworn it was above her. She was safe, she had to be. It was nothing so Justine crawled onwards without fear.

"**Whatever.**"

Roaches were near though; she had heard them hiss from one side of a split path.

_Joy…._

"**Eenie, meenie, miney – I'm gonna go the opposite way of the roach. Fuck roaches.**"

Justine agreed and went left.

"**If it were a rat, that's one thing…**"

More roaches hissed as Justine crawled.

"**Agh – there's roaches everywhere. Can't there be, like, rats?**"

Justine tried the lantern again; vey tempted to get rid of it when it did nothing. There was another split path and she went left again.

"**Rats are much cuter. I keep pressing F 'cause I want fucking lanterns, but I don't get 'em.**"

François started another ditty as Justine reached an opening. It was quite a fall down but she still could care less and jumped straight down. François screamed as if he were in pain as well. It was possible he felt whatever Justine did.

"**God, the ankles!**"

_Wuss._

Justine went to her left where she found a phonograph and a large collapse of boulders blocking her path.

"**Oh wait, I have uh…laudanum for that.**"

_Fine, if it's that bad to you._

Justin fished the vial out of her pocket and drank. It made little difference for her pain as she already felt almost none, but her mind was another story.

"**Beautiful.**"

_I bet you are, François~._

"**Let's see what you have to say now machine.**"

After a few attempts at grabbing the crank Justine saw this phonograph had no cylinder.

_Oh! I – I know what to do, François! I know what to do!_

"**No cylinder in the phono- …. I feel really good about shit I do.**"

Justine managed to free the cylinder from her pocket as well and put it into place.

_See, François, did you see? I did good, right?_

"**Ok, see, now what I did was completely justifiable. Let's hear what it says…**"

The crank supplied Justine with entertainment until it finally caught and no longer turned.

_Aww…_

The voice from the past was giggling.

"…speak into the phonograph, Basile, mon cheri."

Basile, assuming that voice was the only other one and had to be him, spoke in a dazed and tired voice. François gave an occasional 'oh' as the voices conversed.

"…what did you put into the wine?"

"Absinthe, silly Basile, strong men like you don't drink wine – wine is for helpless women like myself."

"**ABSINTHE is for men.**"

Basile sounded tired, annoyed, and as if he were in pain.

"My head, what is this thing, get me out. I'm not up for your games."

_I like games! Can we play a game, François, huh?_

The other Justine giggled as she spoke.

"No, you have to say it first. How beautiful am I?"

"**Mirror, mirror, on the wall…**"

Basile was not a very charismatic mirror.

"Plenty, now let me out of this thing!"

The other Justine was no longer giggling. She was rather cross with her naughty mirror.

"No, that is not what you say!"

Basile groaned.

"Your beauty is blinding."

Basile screamed either from realization or an action.

"My eyes! What have you done to my eyes!"

"**So silently!**"

"Justine this isn't funny, you blinded me!"

"Ha, ha, can't catch me now."

"I'll kill you, you whore!"

The recording ended.

"**Ah, young love.**"

_I could have made up a better game than that…._

"**Wait…whore.**"

Justine went off the other direction in search of a game.

"**YOU WHORE!**"

_PUTAIN!_

"**Ah, amusing…**"

Along the way was a door which had been boarded up, a wooden door that had a blood trail leading to it, and a stairway leading down.

"**Blood trail…**_**clean**_**…I'm gonna go clean…**"

Happy to oblige, Justine went down two of the three sets of stairs.

"**Though clean leads prettily further down…**"

At the bottom of the third set of stairs was a grand door with two lanterns burning on each side.

_Pretty~._

"**You know what, I actually want to see this blood.**"

_Me too~!_

Justine happily flitted her way back up the stairs.

"'**Cause that looks like one of those doors that lead to another area.**"

_Don't all doors do that?_

"**I don't wanna go into another area yet.**"

Justine reached the wooden door.

"'**Cause this is one of those doors you open, and it's just another progress…**"

Inside the room was the continuation of the blood, a torture table, some candles, two full tables, papers, and a phonograph.

"**And lo and behold…another phonograph…and a torture wheel.**"

Justine played with the turning wheel on the table. It looked like the wheel of a ship, possibly a pirate ship, but it would not rotate very far.

"**God I don't know what – oh it's a vice.**"

Justine lazily nudged the wheel when a rat squeaked and she quickly turned to find it.

_Rat~?_

"**A rat! Where is he, where is he? Come here, come here little ratty-rat – there he is!**"

François was positively giddy, as was Justine, as they ran about the room in search until they found a rat on the other side of the table. The small creature scampered under and around an end table that had a piece of paper atop it.

"**Hey buddy, hey buddy – you led me to paper! Such a good ratty-rat.**"

Justine picked the paper up, it was a clipping from a newspaper, but was not fit to read. Instead, she allowed François to.

"**Travesty at the Conservatory. Many Parisians had gathered last night to enjoy the performance of violin virtuoso, Malo de Vign-uhh…. It was to be the grand premiere of several new arrangements of songs by fellow composer George Bizet…Bee-zet…but the evening took an unexpected turn.**"

_Oo~!_

"**Young Malo de Veeg-nuh turned up visibly intoxicated. His violin cried as the bow was jerked across the strings. The audience seemed to forgive at first, but started to boo the man off stage as he defacated – HAHAHA, oh wow, mind in the gutter here. **_**DEFACED**_** the beloved song La rose et la-beel – I'm sorry, now I'm just picturing the guy taking a shit on his violin.**"

François chuckled as Justine stifled a giggle.

"**Ha, ah…. The stress apparently got the best of the young musician as he threw his bow into the audience and finally collapsed.**"

_H-he had too much~._

"_**And defecated on stage.**_"

Justine suppressed another giggle.

"**Mademoiselle Justine Florbelle, who is according to rumors romantically involved with Monsieur de Vig-neh-uh, looked quite amused by the events and had two of her friends, Basile Giro-oo-uh and Al-wa Ra-see-en, carry him off stage.**"

_Y-You can't pronounce worth shit, François._

"**The evening was saved by other musicians at the conservatory…who **_**WAS**_** able…who **_**were**_** able to perform a most delightful impromptu concerto in Malo de Ving-ya-ne's absence. The audience showered their saviors with praise and calls for en – blah, blah, blah, ok so, Justine did something to the dude, gotcha.**"

_That wasn't a very fun story. I want a better one!_

"**Where'd the ratty-rat go? There he is!**"

_Ratty-rat~!_

"**My God, I am easily amused…**"

Justine was soon distracted by a series of drawings on the wall.

"**Oh, cool, pictures…**"

To the far right was a bald person's head being crushed with the table's contraption. Next to it was a bald, naked person cowering in a corner. Next was a picture with two close ups, one of a left hand with chains wrapped around the wrist and going down, the other the back view of a person from the shoulders down with their legs chained from their knees down. Finally, at the far left was a drawing of a wheel, like that of a carriage. All of these images combined themselves into Justine's drugged mind and she barely made the connection to the man from before. That man could have been this Basile fellow.

"**It's like…hold on, that's like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, right there.**"

On the table was a bottle labeled 'Absinthe' that had green liquid which had dried onto the table and ground.

"**And that is poison, ratty-rat you stay away from these, you stay away from that over there, ok?**"

Justine did not think it necessary to correct him, she was not entirely sure he was wrong, and went to the phonograph.

"**Well, let's not forget you…come on handle, handle, handle – there we go.**"

At last Justine got a firm grip of the handle and cranked the recording into life.

"Congratulations for coming this far,"

"**Thank you!**"

"I am so excited for you. I do hope you managed to save Monsieur Fournier. He was a friend and a colleague of my papa, you know. Friendly fellow, a real bon garcon, but frail of mind."

"**Uh…I don't think I saved him…but I didn't kill him.**"

"He puts up an impressive front, but it is all an act, I assure you. Please go on, we are just getting started."

"**I'm just going to assume that that guy back **_**there**_** was the, uh…guy that…is a – no, you stay away from that! Stay away from that.**"

Justine helped François chase the rat away from the green stain on the floor before heading back out and down the stairs.

_Bad ratty-rat!_

"**Ok…I'mma leave the door open for you, don't go across the green stuff, you can crawl under the table. Anyway, I'm just gonna assume that that guy back there was whatever-his-name-was…and that I didn't save him, and that I don't care, actually.**"

_Works for me~._

"**Let's continue going down these stairs.**"

Down the stairs and back to the grand door Justine ran. She stopped just in front of it and admired the decorative design.

"**To the libru-ary.**"

The door squeaked loudly as Justine opened it and entered into the library.


	2. Part 2

"**And here we are in the library.**"

On both sides of Justine were strange statues of anatomically-incorrect, naked men with their heads hung low and their wrists bound together in front of them. Justine inspected the one to her left while François took care of the drunken rambles himself.

"**Hey, hey, buddy…hey, what's gotcha so down? – oh wow!**"

The statue had no ears or any truly distinct features.

_Positively grotesque~._

"**He's got ears like that really ugly guy on Star Trek: Next Generation…I never watched it that much, all I remember is there was a guy, he had horn skin and had **_**really **_**big freaking ears.**"

_I think this one's a little different._

Another phonograph was waiting and Justine happily turned the crank.

"**Let's see what you have to say now, either Justine or Justine – probably Justine.**"

"On this next piece you should be looking for some divine inspiration."

"**Kay.**"

"Time to delve into your spiritual side. What do you see? Is the man begging for mercy or is he being blessed. Perhaps both! Father used to say, there were no right answers. Have the light guide you."

"**All right...**"

Justine was in a long corridor with multiple doors, decorative paintings, and copies of the strange statue littering the walls. Above her head and continuing down the hall were simple metal circles that held multiple burning candles to light the way. Getting straight to the point was boring though, so Justine went to the first door on her left. It was very dark inside.

"**Well there's clearly no light in here, but maybe there's lantern oil.**"

While oil did not present itself two tinderboxes did.

"**Or tinder!**"

_I'll light lots of things for you, François~!_

Justine tucked both of the cylinders into her pockets.

"**Haha! Now we're banging on all cylinders. Any lantern oil? Lantern oil, anything, anything anywhere?**"

The shelves held nothing for them. Justine jumped onto some boxes to play briefly, but the game was not as fun as she had hoped. Laudanum was a marvelous cure, even if it did make Justine dizzy and ruin her vision from time to time.

"**Anything that's not gonna make my head bulge out like this?**"

One shelf finally gave something: a picture slide labeled number two.

"**What are you? Slide…ok…. Let's get under the light, Justine.**"

Justine left the room and stood under one of the rings of lights. She wanted to take hold of its ends and just swing on it like a little girl.

"**Keep your senses.**"

_Senses are boring…._

Justine obliged though and went into the next room. This one was lit and appeared to be a small study filled with many books. There was a desk right across from the door and among its clutter were slide number one and a piece of paper that was shades lighter than the others.

"**Ok, another one of these things, and another note.**"

François was in charge of reading as per usual.

"**The tests have been going well. The most long term, and in a sense the most promising one, is the Light Box. Having Justine choose a slide, essentially a mood, for everyday is a great way to see the larger overall development of her mind. She definitely reads things into the slides I had not foreseen. Her remarkable imagination turns the characters into just about anything and she is able to effortlessly reduce all her experiences into one of the four character slides.**"

_That's an easy game._

"**That's…very shallow, I mean that's…but then again that's twice the develop- that's twice the personality Two-Face has, I guess, oddly.**"

_Who's Two-Face, François?_

François did not answer, he only read on.

"**Using the Puzzle – well, twice the problem solving ability – Using the Puzzle Lock has proven more difficult as she tends to always choose two slides with characters facing the same way. I have asked her why this is, but she doesn't seem to fully understand what I am asking.**"

François had mumbled some but Justine had stopped caring about the note's contents before then. She searched the desk's compartment and found another tinderbox. There was tinder in the middle drawer. She left the top and bottom ones closed and just left.

"**Ok…more tinder…man, I'm gonna light the crap out of some candles…and torches, and whatever else I wanna light really...**"

The next room actually felt like a library. Bookcases lined the walls and made a division in the room.

"**Well this place is light…**"

François started one of his ditties as Justine walked along the room, checking the shelves. Another slide was poking over the edge of a high shelf. Justine stretched as far as she could and finally got slide number three.

"**Come on, there we go.**"

François continued his ditty and Justine continued her search, growing bored. There seemed to be nothing of use.

_Can books fly?_

Justine threw a book and discovered that no, books cannot fly.

_Aw…._

"**Books…fuck books.**"

There was another tinderbox but nothing else to collect on her way out.

"**But not you, tinder. I'm kinda wondering, why did they give me a God damn lantern-**"

Justine tried to light the lantern a few more times.

"**-if they're not gonna give me some oil?**"

_I dunno…._

The next room was lit as well and rather long. There were four paintings, many candles, small bits of furniture, and something in the back.

"**Granted it's probably early in this game, but…**"

On an end table Justine found slide number four.

"**Slide four, kay…**"

There was a second end table on the other side of the room and it offered multiple pages.

"**Justine, age eight.**"

_Oh goody, another story time!_

"**Today I played outside with Clarice. We saw a bird pick at a snail. It carried…. The snail had a shell and it cracked. Clarice cried and I comforted her. The new maid heard us and came out and scolded Clarice for playing with me, the bird took off into the air.**"

_Story time isn't fun when you mumble, François…._

"**Today I was the one with open arms.**"

_No more mumbles!_

"**Justine, age nine. Today I played with the – who writes a journal for, like, once a year?**"

_I do~!_

"**Anyway – Today I played with the…father's Light Box. Above all I like the man standing to the right. Father asked why. I said, he sees like…he sees things like he is…**"

_If you keep mumbling I'll just have to read this myself!_

"**Today I was the right one.**"

The next page was for age ten, but François did not bother announcing her age again.

"**Father said I picked the wrong slide yesterday when I made the chambermaid cry. He wanted me to pick the one with the sword, while I picked the man on the right. I never pick the one with the sword.**"

_Swords are pointy._

"**Today I was the one kneeling.**"

There was one page left for when Justine was eleven.

"**Today father came for me in my room. I still couldn't look him in the eyes. He said I shouldn't feel ashamed and that I only tried to fill the void left by mother. When he wasn't looking I took the star stone from his collection.**"

Bothe the amnesia and laudanum worked to cloud Justine's mind, but she still had small memories of those times with father. She remembered the star stone in her hand and his anger.

"**Today I was the one with the sword.**"

At this point, laudanum was probably the only thing keeping Justine from losing her mind to rage or despair.

"**Whatever.**"

François was very talented at not caring. Justine followed his example and went back across the room to see the paintings.

"**Perhaps I don't get the symbolism.**"

It was a distinct possibility. The first painting was a young girl with black hair and brown eyes who was dressed in white. Justine knew her, and was nearly certain she was her. That face littered her few memories, but she was not sure if she remembered her from a mirror or as a person.

"**Tiny Justine – MY GOD HER EYES ARE GIGANTIC!**"

_So that's not laudanum vision then? Well I like it, it's cute._

"**Is it a family thing, a…?**"

The next painting was a dignified man with a thick black beard as long as his neck. Justine was certain this was her father. She backed away, back to the young girl.

"**Kind of…she has like freaking cow eyes.**"

_You're cruel, François._

Justine took a bottle from the end table and looked at the portrait of her younger self.

"**Lift it, ok. Yeah, take that!**"

_You disgust me…._

She threw the bottle at the painting and shattered it, sending shards of glass flying.

"**Ah!**"

A man's voice came from nearby.

"Wh-who are you? Who's there?"

The very back of the room had a square barred window and a large metal rectangle that had a lever and two slots. The man's voice was coming from the other side of the wall.

"**Uh…I don't know.**"

"You'll burn for this…"

"**What?**"

"You'll burn for this!"

Justine was tempted to pull the lever and make that unkind man suffer.

_How dare you threaten me with hell! You don't know who I am or what I've done!_

"_**Buuuuurn**_**!**"

Chains rattled from where the man was kept.

"**What – what else did I do? Did I do something to you specifically?**"

Justice was walking away and saw the next painting was a naked man with a sack over his head, spread over a table and prepared to be ripped by his arms and legs in four directions. It seemed natural to assume that was the man's current situation. Her laudanum-induced high let her pay little attention to it, but just enough to see the cross he was wearing.

"**I can leave…**"

The final painting was a woman dressed in red and white with a large collared coat. Justine knew it to be herself and moved her fingers through her hair and over her face to match the features to those of the painting in her mind.

"**Dracula?**"

Justine left the room. François had a knack for not caring and making comments that were either annoying or amusing.

"**Anyway…there's more there – you know what, I – there's almost always freaking lantern oil in these places.**"

_We'll check again then. You're a very impatient and demanding child, François._

Justine reentered the small office room and searched the unopened drawers.

"**Why didn't I open these other drawers? I can't even remember….**"

_How terrible for you._

"**I'm just out of it or something.**"

There was nothing in either of the drawers.

"**Ok, nothing there. Maybe there's something under the chair.**"

Justine threw the chair away but found nothing where it had been except for an old book.

"**A book…whatever.**"

_I want to play, François~._

She wanted to fly like she had tried to make the book do. Justine jumped up onto the desk and saw a piece of paper hidden in the bookcase next to her. At her normal height it would have been impossible to see.

"**There's something glowing, is it another slide thing?**"

Justine's arms were not long enough to reach it from the desk. She jumped down and up onto the small table to take the letter.

"**Nope, another piece of paper…**"

_Tell me a story, François._

"**Dear Monsieur Florbelle…I am sorry to hear about your daughter Justine's unruly behavior. Rest assure that this does not diminish your work, nor does it make your idea of the natural developing mind less appropriate as a field of study. I have met plenty of scholars here in London enthralled by your hypothesis and stated that it could be one of the most important ideas of the modern era. It has been suggested that the mind is not molded by experience, but it could also be stricken with disease without physiological sign. Blah, blah, blah, defecate on stage.**"

Justine held her laugh inside.

"**I wish I could devote my letter to consolidation, blah, blah, blah, passage into Algeria – I need Frenchmen, blah, blah, blah…. It pains me to ask this…if you could suffer…. Sincerely, Herbert.** "

_That wasn't a very good story, François. You left a lot of it out._

"**Name sounds familiar, not sure why.**"

Justine hopped off of the table in huffy disappointment.

"_**Herbert…Herbert…**_**Allen! Al! Allen!**"

It was hard to stay mad at an insane person. Justine ran along to play in the room at the end of the long hall. There was no door, only an archway.

"**What's in here?**"

There was a projector pointed at a large section of wall in front. To the left was a boarded up door, some bookcases, and a painting. To the right were three bookcases and from the left to the right side was a long rug.

"**Monster? Monster? No monsters yet, huh?**"

_We'll be able to get past any monsters, François~!_

Justine went to the right first.

"**Anything on these bookshelves? I can't grab any of these?**"

_What do you mean? I can grab the books. I can even make them fly for a short time._

"**What? Why can't I grab – oh, I can grab one.**"

_Watch it fly!_

Justine threw one of the books.

"**Agh, take that! …why? Normally I can grab books all I want.**"

She threw three books from another bookcase.

"**I guess some of them are just set pieces, huh?**"

Finally she threw one from the third bookcase and noticed something tucked in the back of where she got the first book.

"**Why am I doing this? …the fuck?**"

Justine pretended to be a bunny as she jumped over to the main bookcase and pried an envelope from behind the other books.

"**Ok.**"

She opened the envelope and saw a shipment slip.

"**Congratulations on your fine purchase.**"

_Thank you._

"**The Lumina Projection Box with accompanying Puzzle Lock is the pride of our company and our greatest seller. Having earned your patronage, we would like to share with you privileged insight on our newest workings: the Span-Space Device! This new machine is unlike anything you have ever witnessed. Come and visit our testing facilities and try our state of the art inventions in a safe environment. Please write your name and address on the back of the slip and mail it back to us…. Boston, Massachusetts.**"

_We should pay them a visit, François._

"**Whatever. Who the fuck puts a letter back there?**"

_Maybe it was a secret._

"**Whatever, I…**"

Justine went to the projector box next. It had no top, only an opening to a candle and a small square window to let out the light. She lit the candle and a blue light shown from the box onto the wall in front of her.

"**You, box…with a candle in it, I'm gonna light the shit out of – oo, pretty. Oh, neat.**"

Justine fished out one of the slides from her pocket. It was slide number two.

"**Let's try…you!**"

The silhouette of a man with a sword appeared on the wall.

"**That's the man with the sword.**"

_Indeed it is._

"**Grr….**"

Justine took the slide out and fished in her pocket for another one, this time taking slide number three. On this slide was a man kneeling in a similar position as the man from the drawing in the torture room from earlier.

"**That's the man cowering.**"

_Kneeling, François._

Justine took the slide and replaced it with another. It was hard to discern slides while they were in one's pocket, especially if you pay no attention to their numbers, so Justine mistakenly put the slide of the man with the sword back into place.

"**Now a sword again, ok, um…I guess I need to set these in a certain order…**"

Justine tried for another slide and inserted number two. Another silhouette of a man became visible. This one had his arms outstretched and was standing tall, facing the left.

"**Jesus!**"

_Possibly…_

Justine took the slide back and put in number four.

"_**Fffff**_** – four? I don't know, I'm not paying attention.**"

Luckily they were right as four was the only unseen slide. It was a man facing the right with his hands on his hips. He held his head high and stuck out his chest with pride.

"**Oh, you must be the man to the right.**"

Justine took the slide back and reinserted number three to be certain which slide was which. Slide number three was the man kneeling. She took it back.

"**What're you? Ok so those two are standing to the right, she liked the ones facing to the right…and there's a sword-**"

As Justine was leaving she heard a hitting sound to her right, where the boarded door was. She stopped in the archway.

_Monster…?_

"**Something…I don't – whatever.**"

_Ok, bye Mr. Monster~!_

Justine adopted François attitude of indifference and headed back to the room with the Puzzle Lock.

"**Wait, were there two slots on that? Oh, that must be the Puzzle Lock**"

As Justine got closer to the Puzzle Lock the priest, as she assumed him to be, heard her coming and resumed his nasty comments.

"Sick, twisted child."

_If you keep that up I won't help you, trouduc._

Justine lifted herself with the Lock Box and tried to see the man through the barred window but it was far too dark so she jumped back down.

"**Wanna say that to my face? Jesus, I'm the one holding your life in my hands, now what were the two again? Three and four?**"

_I think so._

Justine searched her pockets and found slide number four first. She slid it into the top slot and then took out slide number three to slide into the second. With both slides in place she went to pull the lever.

"**Good luck!**"

"Our father who art in heaven, hallow be thy name…"

Justine pulled the lever and heard the chains give way, freeing the man.

"Look out for Justine, that demon, she may still be close."

She tried to see inside again.

_Closer than you could ever know, Father._

"**Then why were you yelling at me, you fucktard!**"

With another laugh held in Justine hopped back down.

"**I have half a mind to kill you.**"

_Too late, I think._

"**How the fuck did I get that right? Eh, whatever. I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!**"

François was positively delightful to have around. Justine took the second bottle from the small table and aimed at the portrait of her father. An empty bitterness filled her but she did not feel a burning rage. She had a different target in mind.

"**TAKE THAT, DRACULA!**"

Justine threw the bottle at the painting of her present self, disgusted as the glass shattered to the ground. She left the room and saw the one unlit circle of candles hanging from the hall ceiling. She still wanted that swing and jumped for it.

"**Nng! Du – light the – nyeh…**"

She was still too short. Giving up was not something she like but she was getting used to it as she entered the library.

"**Where'd that sound come from? Oh…**"

In the back the only bookcase with no books on it had rotated to reveal a secret passage way.

_How interesting._

François said something that sounded like 'terrasanta' but it made no sense or difference to Justine. The passage had a single burning torch but it lit the hall and stairs sufficiently.

"_**Fire**_**…good…**"

At the bottom of the first set of stairs was another phonograph waiting.

"**What're you? Come on, what do you have to say to me? Talk to me!**"

Justine cranked the thing into life.

"I wonder, is Father David with his God now?"

"**Is that Father David?**"

"Maybe you helped him there. Don't you worry, I'm sure he didn't have a family, he probably wasn't even all that well-liked."

_That makes sense given how he spoke to me._

"**Yay!**"

"With the current political climate, I'm surprised someone hadn't killed him already. We can't all be saved. Some don't even want to be saved."

"**Some doesn't even?**"

"Yes. That is a comforting thought. Saves us from trying."

"**I guess.**"

The recording had finished and Justine carried on.

_I don't have to try, but I've already saved two so I might as well try to save them all for consistency's sake._

Down the second set of stairs was a wooden door that led to a large dark area where Justine could see torches burning.

"**What have we here?**"

Justine entered slowly and looked around cautiously. She saw nothing dangerous but she knew there had to be something in a place like this.

"**This just smells like monster.**"

_I wouldn't say 'smells' but you're still right, François._

Justine crouched low to the ground to proceed on at a snail's pace.

"**Creep…**"

A bird called from somewhere and the lights all went out as Justine reached a place filled with boxes and sacks of potatoes.

"**Oh, the lights went out…save me potato bags!**"

Hiding among the food, Justine looked out for any monsters or even humans. She felt a chill of excitement but saw nothing. Waiting was dull though so she inched along, hearing a roar similar to the one from the monstrous man from before.

_May the fun begin~!_

Justine wanted to see it first though, so she returned to her potatoes and waited.

"**There is a monster…oh no, what's a grown man to do?**"

_I'm a lady, François, and you're not even really here._

"**Don't look at it…wherever it is.**"

_I wish it were here for me to look at. This is a very inconsiderate monster._

At last the creature came into view. It came into a very distant, blurry view but it came nonetheless.

"**Oh, there it is.**"

The time Justine could have been using to see the beast was spent trying to adjust her eyes to the light and to shake the laudanum's effects completely. She must have used laudanum quite often before she received amnesia because its effects wore off rather quickly for her. The last lingering bits were more than enough to ruin her vision though.

"**Ignore me!**"

The man-beast exhaled sharply somewhere close. His chains rattled with his movements as he neared. Justine was still staring at the idiotic potatoes trying to calm her eyes.

_Come on already, I want to see him!_

While she could not see him, she could at least hear him speak.

"I will find you…I will _kill_ you, you cunt."

_Aren't we the violent type?_

She recognized the voice. This was Basile from the phonograph. Her foe was blind.

"**Why? No, don't kill me.**"

_This will be delightful~._

"**You have to ignore me, I'm not looking at ya'! That's the rules of these monsters.**"

_Well that's an easy way out._

Basile inhaled forcefully, his deep voice lost with that sound. Justine tried to see him but he was leaving now. She left the potatoes and crawled along in his direction. Once behind a support beam she peeked past and saw him coming towards her, shrouded in fog.

"**Let's go this way…oh man…I may have fucked this up.**"

_Thank you for taking the blame, François. I assure you we're safe though._

Justine looked again and saw Basile now leaving. She could see him slightly better this time and he appeared to be in the same state as the first one had. By now Justine felt it safe to assume the first one she had seen was either Alois or Malo from the notes, but she still was not sure which. Alois seemed slightly more likely given what she had heard him say, but until she found the third one she could not be certain. Justine continued on.

"**I'm totally juking your ass.**"

_We're what-ing his ass?_

It was laughably easy to evade a blind, injured man. Justine almost felt like giving him an advantage to even things out. She would at least give him another chance to find her.

"**I'm gonna hide in this corner! What chu gonna do about it?**"

"I'll kill you, you cunt."

_That seems a reasonable plan of action, too bad it'll never happen._

"**Stop saying that! I mean, it's a cool word but you're overusing it. Saying it twice is just-**"

"I'll kill you, you cunt."

_Ha._

"**Shut up!**"

Basile limped right past where Justine was hiding and it was almost impossible for her to keep her laughter inside.

"**You know, your mother probably wasn't very nice…didn't teach you proper manners.**"

_Oh let it go, François, honestly._

"Yes, keep making those sounds…"

"**I'm not making any sounds.**"

On the off chance she had let a sound slip Justine crawled away for either a new hiding spot or the way out. It was still too easy to be much fun. She easily made it past to a new section of the area and even walked at her full height.

"**And now that I've passed him I'm gonna run.**"

Justine jumped over and past two chairs and heard Basile come after her as she ran into the next room.

"**Sucker! I MADE IT OUT OF THE ROOM! BOOYAH! Granted I didn't explore anything but I – oh man, that music is annoying.**"

_Music, François? Does that mean we're reaching Monsieur Malo and his violin?_

The next room was a long stone hall with mostly unlit candles lining the walls. There was enough light to see though so it was not a bother. François sighed.

_Poor thing, this must be so tiring for you._

"**Welcome to the dungeon little girl.**"

_François, I am a woman, not a little girl._

"**We got fun and games.**"

_I hope so, the past few games have been rather pitiful._

A/N: Just to clarify, every time the game starts it is the character's first time hearing the voice. Whenever Lani dies in Justine he restarts the entire game and it will be Justine's first time hearing him, speaking with him, and naming him. Next chapter has Daniel's letter, so this will be a lovely introduction for Lani. I already know his next name, and given that the next part is under seven minutes long it should be out soon. On the note of fan fiction, I feel like writing Justine centered pieces more so I may write something not involving a Let's Play. I soon realized that my main ideas involve explaining her past with her father which I see involving child molestation given her 11 year old journal, and a rape story involving monster Alois trying to remind Justine of their love. I'm a sick person. To counter this I was thinking of writing consensual smut, yes there will be smut, of Justine and Alois. If anyone has any prompts for me let me know and I might write it. Preferably one-shot prompts but any is fine.


	3. Part 3: Try one does not go so hot

"**Ok.**"

_Who is that?_

Justine looked for the source of the voice, but she could not tell exactly where it was coming from. She listened in curiosity.

"**While I've never been the uh…bitest – brightest bulb in the drawer or anything but, um…I guess I just didn't realize that after you-**"

The voice stopped for only a moment but continued as if it had skipped over nothing.

"**So…after about uh…twenty more minutes of stacking boxes and all that stuff, I am back here and have done everything I have done up until this point.**"

_How long have you been following me?_

"**I know I probably didn't **_**need**_** to say any of that, but I just thought I'd like you all to know: I fucked up.**"

'_All'? Who else is with you?_

"**Anyway…**"

The voice was not coming from where Justine had escaped Basile, so she went forward to confront whoever owned this voice.

"**Back to the dungeon…**"

A phonograph was waiting next to the door out. Justine briefly debated whether or not to continue first but decided if nothing else it would assure the voice she had not noticed it yet and that there was no need to worry. She cranked life into the machine and listened to the voice from the past.

"I'm sure you have figured out how it all works by now."

"**Oh ho, certainly.**"

"Are you enjoying my quips?"

"**Not really.**"

"I think they are quite clever."

"**I don't.**"

"Not that I ever was much of a conversationalist, poetry has always been my forte."

"**And mocking the shit out of you is mine.**"

_As is annoying me._

"But I digress. You should press on, it will all be over soon."

"**Thank God!**"

"Also, the police are here,"

"**Oh, are they – wait…**"

"…maybe they can help you."

"**No…because no…you said this was a recording from **_**the past**_**! So unless it's the not-so-distant past, that means jackshit! And unless the police are here and you had time to walk down here, place your little recording thing – after recording the messege! It – ugh – fuck it.**"

_Gladly._

Justine opened the door and saw another one down a small section of stairs and surrounded by water.

_As if this dress wasn't enough of a hassle already._

"**Oh! Oh thank Christ, water. I was wondering when this part was coming.**"

_Who and what are you?_

The door led to a large area filled with water that came to Justine's waist. Large machinery she knew nothing of filled the room and seemingly nothing else save some chains and doors. Justine closed the door and moved on.

"**Close – ok.**"

The voice was obviously less than pleased with its predicament, as if it were worse than Justine's. A tear in the stone ceiling above was letting in some light.

"**More wall-ginas…**"

_Excuse moi?_

"**All the wall-gina.**"

_I'm going to begin shunning you now._

Through an open archway Justine soon found another door.

"**Blah, blah, blah, door – locked.**"

_Great._

"**Something will probably break out of there and try to kill me.**"

_Well this just keeps getting better and better!_

Justine took a nearby barrel and placed it in the archway.

"**I just get the feeling, so I will block his path. 'Cause monsters can't walk past barrels.**"

_It's better than nothing._

"**I think…I don't know, let's move a bunch of stuff in his way.**"

Justine took a floating box and put it in the archway as well.

_If another one of them is going to come it better be out of this door._

"**Just to annoy him.**"

_Forget it; it'll all just float away._

On the other side of the room was a door that would open.

"**That is if there's no monster in here.**"

_I can tell I won't like you._

"**I wonder if there's any meat around, 'cause then I can just throw it and distract them.**"

_These are men, loosely speaking, not animals. Unless they are starving and would do anything for food I don't think that would work._

Soon there was another door that led to a smaller room.

"**I like doing that – ah, fucking pull doors, why can't there all be push doors? Make me running around so easy…**"

_That is why they're all pull doors, Mr. Voice. Also, if you don't tell me who you are I'm afraid I'll have to name you myself, and given how annoying you've been I won't be kind with the name._

"**Uh…what've we got?**"

_We've got floating boxes and half submerged shelves._

Justine tried jumping onto one box for a better view and found it near impossible with a dress weighted by water. A larger box was behind her in front of one of the bookcases so she tried to jump on it instead. Her first attempt did fail but she saw an envelope on the top shelf.

"**More boxes…oh a letter.**"

She made it up her next try and tossed aside the box that was on top of the envelope.

"**Take that, box! Ah, what've we have…?**"

_We have an annoying voice and an unopened letter._

Normally Justine read quietly to herself, but the voice seemed very enthusiastic about reading. In fact the voices it used were very fun. It started plainly.

"**Monsieur Florbelle-**"

Then it groaned with absolute disdain in its low voice. It seemed as if the voice would become the next foe but before any measures could be take it loudly continued reading using the mock vocal patterns of an individual with a rather hefty case of mental retardation.

"**MY NAME IS DANIEL, A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE OF PROFESSOR HERBERT!**"

Justine stared at the paper at a loss for words. The voice groaned again and continued reading in a combination of a testy tone, as if any moment he would find this Daniel fellow and pummel him into oblivion, and a mock tone of a British prat.

"**As I have come to understand, you are among his most trusted friends and confidantes, therefore I shall reveal my predicament in hope that you can shed some light on the matter. You see I am a coward and have been wetting the bed since I was five.**"

The last line was blatantly impromptu, but it made the voice more likable. The voice began again, racing through the words in a normal tone, occasionally drifting into a whisper.

"**Earlier this year Herbet and I set out on an expedition to the deserts of Algeria. While looking for the legendary tomb of Tin Hinan we happened upon a cavern temple buried deep beneath the sand. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, extensive cowardice, blah, blah, blah, murdering people…. I have since lost all contact with Herbert and I find myself deeply troubled by the whole affair. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, killing more people, child killing, yadda, yadda, torture, Daniel.**"

The voice groaned.

…_well that was a lovely reading. Given your obvious distaste for the fellow, I think I'll call you Daniel._

A rat squeaked and Justine continued her exploring in a slightly better mood.

"**It's ok little ratty-rats. 'Cause those tormenting words are gone now.**"

_I'd rather like to meet this Daniel, he sounds like a funny fellow to be around. He must not be much of a gentleman though; he did not even sign his last name on the letter asking for assistance. I'd be amazed if anyone helped him._

There was nothing but boxes in the attached room and once back in the main part of the smaller room Justine saw a broken lever on a table.

"**What an interesting room – oh! Duh, why wasn't that the first place I looked?**"

_I guess hearing you read is more interesting, Daniel._

Justine took the lever with her. There was a place for it back out in the main area.

"**There's a giant cudgel…giant lever on the table.**"

Air from a misaligned pipe blew onto Justine as she left.

"**What's blowing at me? Shut up pipe!**"

_Yelling at inanimate object, Daniel, and I'm the crazy one of us. That does not suit me well._

Daniel's entity and Justine's physical self were at the heavy metal door where the lever had to go.

"**Ok, now if I know much about these games, which I like to think I do at this point, the moment I put that lever in there something's gonna come at me, so I'm gonna open it…and, uh…close it – if I can on the other side…hopefully…hopefully I can.**"

Justine firmly locked the lever into place and neither heard nor saw anything come.

_I guess you don't know much about these 'games', Daniel._

"**Nothing yet…**"

Up the lever went, slowly up the door crawled, and quickly called the monster.

_Viens m'enculer._

"**There it is!**"

Justine rushed into the next area and pulled a lever to reclose the door.

"**Hey, another lever. Let's uh…pull that shut.**"

The beast complained but was now trapped behind a metal blockade.

_Ha, I'm safe._

"**Sucker! I am so smart – again! Now what? Um…**"

The room was very strange. There was a lifted platform and four stone pillars surrounding it, torture cages hung from above and floated in the water.

"**I should probably start looking for something.**"

Justine went through an open doorway to the left and the following wooden door. Inside was a mess of machinery she did not understand past seeing a free place for a cogwheel.

"**Ok, this is one of those gear rooms, um…with nothing.**"

To the right room it was.

"**Man, that monster must be big 'cause it's playing its drums **_**loud**_**.**"

_I hear no drums, Daniel, but I suppose that means this one is Malo. Odd though, you think you would hear a violin._

"**Oh good, a push door.**"

_Praise the heavens, Daniel._

"**I do so prefer those. Now if I was right there's one cogwheel missing so I need to find one in another-**"

In the only other room, immediately across from Justine, was a large cogwheel resting on a table.

_How convenient._

"**Ok, there's one. I'll take that one.**"

Justine took the large cogwheel in hand and made her way back to the gear room.

"**Let's move quickly.**"

Malo was beating against the door.

"**OK, let's move very quickly! Run faster little girl.**"

_I am a grown woman!_

To gain better footing Justine ran across the platform when she reached it. Unfortunately the weight of her soaked dress slowed her down more than simply being in the water did.

"**We'll use this, 'cause it'll move you faster or slower – slower I guess, huh?**"

Malo continued hitting the door. As each hit grew louder Justine was convince he was bending and ripping the metal with the force of his hits.

_Why is the violinist this strong?_

At last Justine got the cog on and Malo hit the door even harder. Any moment he would be here. She ran for the door.

"**Oh, wow, he's uh…moving pretty fast now, actually. Time to get through this, uh…**"

Malo was in, he had broken the door and Justine felt like a sitting duck as she pulled the lever.

"**Come on, grab the handle, bitch. Shit.**"

_Shut the fuck up, Daniel!_

Justine had no time to wait for the door. She ducked down neck-deep into the water and went under the door the second she could. Once on the other side she pulled the lever and closed Malo out.

"**Ok, um…**"

There were turn wheels everywhere and Malo was beating the door down much quicker than he had the first one. There was no time to think anything through and Justine turned the first wheel, closing the metal door to protect the police man inside from Malo.

"**Close it faster, girl.**"

_The damn thing's rusted, Daniel!_

The door was closed and Malo was now inside. Justine ran for the main door out but rather than a quick lever her door had a turn wheel as well.

_VIENS M'ENCULER!_

She tried to turn the wheel but it would not cooperate no matter how hard she tried. Malo had to be closing in. Justine turned to run and buy time but Malo was already there. He clawed at her chest, forcing her head to hit the turn wheel on the way down as she bled out into the water.

"**Ah, DAMNIT!**"

"I want you."

Justine's vision faded to black as she lost consciousness and life. The last thing she felt was Malo taking her flesh as his own, and the last things she heard was Malo's chewing and Daniel speaking.

"**Ok…let's try that again.**"


	4. FFFFUUUU

A/N: Apparently when I have a long writing assignment I crank these out quickly….

Justine pulled the second lever. The metal door crawled open and she heard the man give that monstrous howl. He must have spoken too because Justine heard muffled words she could not fully understand. Whatever he said was not important enough to die over so Justine hurried inside and closed him out.

"**Take that!**"

She was still winning so the words made no sense. Justine hurried to close the police man's door with the turn wheel but Malo had broken in seconds later as Justine fumbled to find a way out.

"**Come on.**"

Justine did not know where the voice was coming from anymore. It spoke as the monster made its sounds. It could have been the police officer, but she was fairly certain she heard him say something from behind the metal door at the same time.

"**Turn it! Well, I think I'm dead.**"

_I refuse to die here!_

The man was in the center between the barred walls while Justine was on the right side. She looked at the suitor and saw he was in the same condition as the other two. To draw his attention away from her way out she slightly opened and reclosed the police man's door before attempting to sneak past.

"**Where is he?**"

He was in the center part, coming towards Justine.

"**Oh, hey, buddy. No you don't.**"

There was still no time to worry about the voice and Justine went back around the right side for her escape. She looked back from the corner and did not see him coming from either direction. Justine closed in on the door out, seeing the suitor come down the center again. If she was fast she could make it, so she risked turning the wheel. She looked back and saw the suitor only inches away so she ran to the left side of the room.

"**Running!**"

Justine felt the final suitor carve claws into her back and knock her into the water. She instinctively closed her eyes. Justine tried to escape but he kept her submerged. Her lungs filled with water quickly and Justine could not last long.

"**Ah, you dick! Blargblublublublu…**"

The suitor noisily ate away at Justine's flesh as her blood floated above her in her watery grave.

Justine stood outside the first door, waiting for anything to present itself after she had inserted the lever. There was no call of a monster but a voice quickly sounded.

"**OK!**"

Justine looked around but saw no one. The voice was loud, clear, and coming from inside her head.

_I've truly gone mad…._

"**Once again, sparing you everything up until this point, I have done every, single, fucking thing, to get back here.**"

_If that's true why were you silent when I spent nearly half an hour stacking those stupid boxes?_

"**Including: pick up each and every one of those God damn notes, stack all the boxes to get that wax cylinder to listen to that bitch **_**again**_** on that stupid what-cha-call-it…**"

_Phonograph._

The voice groaned and paused for a few moments.

"**Ok…the only reason I've been trying to close that door that's open in there, the only reason I keep dying, is 'cause I'm trying to save one of these assholes!**"

_And how on earth do you know all this? Are you supposed to be a god?_

"**I'm trying to do this as a fucking paragon.**"

_You're a rather colorful god. I like that. How about, if you're right I'll name you Célestin, because it means 'heavenly'. If you are wrong, or until I see you're right, I will name you Brian as it commonly means 'maggot'. Do we have a deal?_

Whether they did or did not was never answered so Justine assumed they did.

"**Now…let's give this one more shot.**"

Justine pulled the lever and heard the third beast wail. She hurried into the next room and closed him out.

"**Kay, closed…**"

The room down the right hallway had a large cogwheel on a table. Given all the machinery she had seen this would probably be useful so Justine took it with her.

"**Grab the FUCKING wheel…now it's gonna start wailing on the GOD DAMN DOOR AGAIN!**"

The suitor was doing just as the voice said. The voice groaned as Justine made her way to the left-side door.

"**I fucking hate…that monster.**"

_And I don't?_

The first monster had asked if it was his love, meaning it was more than likely the Alois fellow. The second one Justine knew as Basile because of his voice. This one had to be Malo, the violinist.

_If he plays violin as a living he shouldn't be too strong._

The bangs got louder as Justine entered the left room. Unless the door was made of very weak metal Malo was far stronger than she would have ever assumed.

"**Yeah, yeah, wail away you son of a bitch.**"

The large cogwheel was put into its place and Justine hurried out.

"**Ok, it's on. Let's run back. Go on, KEEP TRYING! I DON'T CARE! COME AND KILL ME!**"

Justine threw the lever up and escaped to the next area.

"**WATCH ME GIVE A FUCK!**"

_I would give plenty of fucks over my death, Brian!_

She closed Malo out and hurried to the right, seeing the open door the voice had mentioned.

_Célestin it is._

Malo beat at the second door as Justine quickly turned the wheel to save the police officer. It was as if he instantly appeared there.

"**Wow, you run fast. Ok, close this God damn door.**"

The door was submerged in the water, leaving at most an inch above ground if it had not finished. Justine ran for the main door out.

"**That's close enough for me.**"

Malo was inside and Justine turned the wheel in panic. The door was barely lifted off the ground when she ducked down into the water and crawled under it to safety.

"**Ah, damnit I didn't – oh, I did.**"

There was a lever on the other side instead of another turning wheel. Justine pushed it down to close the door and ran down the water filled halls.

"**OH MY FUCKING GOD! Suck it, monster!**"

Malo broke in as Justine reached dry land. Boxes and barrels blocked her path but she gathered her sopping dress in her hands and leapt over. She kept the dress gathered at her waist the entire time she ran and jumped for freedom.

"**Now I just gotta run. **_**THAT **_**I CAN FUCKING DO! Oh, check it out!**"

Justine ran up a small staircase and through a door, quickly slamming it shut behind her.

"**I… AM A GOD!**"

_Good to hear, Célestin._

"**Despite having failed a few times, but whatever! I made it past that FUCKING water monster!**"

Malo did not beat the door at all and Justine could finally catch her breath as she rung some of the water from her dress.

"**SUCK. MY. DICK!**"

_If you truly control this nightmare and can get me out of here safely I will. For now, we have to move on in case Malo decides to join us._

Justine was in a dark hallway with two torches burning nearby. A phonograph waited about two feet away and Justine turned the crank.

"**WHAT? What do you got to say to me?**"

"Inspector Marot, are you still with us?"

"**Maybe…I don't know.**"

"I'm looking forward to see if you managed to save him or not. I know very little about him, but surely he had a family, don't you thik?"

_And that family can be the ones to get him out of that place he's safety trapped in._

"**I closed the damn door, maybe I did.**"

"Poor, poor, fatherless children. But he falls on his own sword. His kind is not meant to come for people like me. Laws are made for cretins."

Célestin sighed with boredom.

"The aristocracy doesn't need to know right from wrong. We are always right."

"**Yeah, right, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah – I don't care! I don't like you, and because YOU are probably this character I'm playing as-! Thisjk – GOD DAMNIT!**"

The phonograph had silenced early on during Célestin's meltdown.

"**If that's the case…**"

Célestin gave a tired groan.

"**I am going to be so pissed.**"

_There, there, Célestin. It will be all right._

The hall was short and ended with a door to another large area. It was dark and lit by torches like where Basile was. The ground was plain dirt and to the left was a dug grave.

"**Oh, hi…charming. Do I get chased again?**"

Next to the grave was a short shovel. Justine picked it up and could only see a child using it.

"'**Cause I got a shovel this time. Come at me, bro! Ha!**"

It was hard to not laugh at Célestin, but Justine was still more preoccupied with monsters. To gage a reaction Justine threw the shovel. There was silence.

"**Trip on it. Go on, break through the dungeon door and trip on it. I dare you.**"

_Well they're all blind so it would be possible if Malo actually reached the shovel now that it's across the room._

Justine moved around the grave to look at the tombstone. It was shaped as a cross with a ring around the back, a fairly common option.

"**What grave are we…? **_**Ebenezer Scrooge~!**_"

The name was familiar, but given that Célestin was an unknown entity the man could have been a real person or just a piece of fiction.

"'**No, it can't be. I'm alive and well!' Hblurgehgehgeh….**"

_I'm guessing fiction._

Soon Justine found another grave. This one was lined by four candles and a shovel, had a headstone featuring a Prussian bird, and had a piece of paper resting next to it.

"**Op, another letter. Slow motion~.**"

Justine read too herself as Célestin mumbled most of the words.

Le 2 février 1839

Herbert,

I have contacted the consulate and they will send you the permits you need for visiting Algeria. I wish you good luck on your search and that your findings will come at a lower price than mine.

I am at loss with my studies. My daughter has become distraught and distant. I did very little to control her behavior, yet I believe the very notion of my observation has made her this way. My scientific indifference to our tests has not left her with an indifferent opinion. She finds my lack of reaction disappointing. She judges me, and most importantly herself, by the results of these tests.

The reason I have trouble finding any consistency within her character, is because she tries to different approaches to provoke me and her actions only become more and more disturbing. Yesterday I lost myself and scolded her, she was terrified and humiliated.

It saddens me greatly to bring my studies to a close without seeing it to the end, but I can no longer justify my research, I have to mend my relationship with my daughter…

"**Ok. Stupid thi – oh, I can touch it.**"

The note was unfinished, and this grave likely held Justine's father in its dark depths. Justine reached out and touched the gravestone with her hand, tracing her fingers over the bird. A bright, heavenly light blinded her.

"**AH, damnit! I knew it was too good…this game has tortured me the same way the other ones did with utter and complete blindness.**"

_You aren't much of a god, Célestin. The suitors took being blinded better than you are._

"**It all made sense, he though, we all appreciate symmetry. Everyone is comforted by the causality of logic. It gives the impression of a grand plan and that we may be able to grasp the inner workings of this perfect universe. You see, his wife had died while giving birth to his son. That is why he was able to forgive. His family was just giving in to the symmetry.**"

Célestin had mumbled most of what he had said but Justine made it out just the same. She released the stone and with it the light.

"**Ok, that's nice. Oh, God, nearly impossible to see after that…**"

Justine looked down into the grave but saw nothing but darkness. She left it and ran to the other side of the room.

"**What've we got over here? Anything? Anything? Anything? Newman? Bueller?**"

There was a life-size statue of a lovely angel whose face was covered by her long hair. Justine reached for the heart but instead rested her hand on the statue's breast as it was easier to reach.

"**Ha, ha, grab the boobie.**"

The same light came and Célestin protested with painful whines.

"**Oh come on!**"

_Serves you right._

"'**What was mother like?'**"

Célestin was using the voice of an annoying child before answering in a calm and lifeless man's voice.

"'**She was the most beautiful creature to grace this world.'**"

The child's voice was much more annoying the next time.

"'**I can't remember what she looked like, no matter how hard I try.'**"

Célestin's second voice answered in the same calm tone.

"'**Her beauty was blinding, Justine. We could never dare to chain such a memory to our minds. It would be too much to bear.'**"

Justine released the statue, knowing this was the mother's grave.

"**Boobie-statue!**"

_I'm trying to like you, seeing as you're some sort of God, but you are making this very difficult, Célestin._

"**Anything else…? Can I see anything here? Don't wanna miss anything. God forbid I miss something and have to play through it all again.**"

There was nothing else to see other than one smaller headstone Justine did not bother with.

"**And Lord help me if I didn't close that door all the way, because the only reason I'm trying to do this to one-hundred-percent completion is I hear that there's some sort of easter egg.**"

_You're doing all of this for a painted egg? You really are a strange god._

"**I don't know **_**what**_** it is…but I hear there is one.**"

_It's a brightly painted egg. I'm afraid you'll be disappointed._

Justine was back at the first grave. If her theory concerning both her identity and this graveyard were correct the small headstone was her brother's and this grave was to be her own. She went in it to find it was too short so far and got back out. Célestin sighed.

"**It better damn well be worth it. Oh, one more uh…one more phonograph thing here, I guess.**"

There was a phonograph by the door out, as well as another drawing pinned to the wall. Justine cranked the phonograph, hoping it would not lead to another monster.

"**Let's see…**"

"Well done. You have triumphed – conquered my cabinet."

"**Good.**"

"I wish I could tell you how you did, but alas this is a recording."

"**Yep.**"

"You will have to figure it out all by yourself."

"**I think I did pretty damn spectacularly.**"

"Did anyone survive? The doctor? The priest? Or perhaps the police man."

"**Yeah, I saved the village people, what of it? IN THE NAVY~!**"

_My god has lost his mind…._

"Who was allowed to live? Why?"

"**Come on and save your fellow man~! In the navy~!**"

"You should really reflect on these past events and consider what they meant to you-"

"**I'm missing all of this….**"

"-what you have learned about your true nature. Father never knew me."

"**Oh, here we go: sob story.**"

"He thought he did, but then he was frightened and nothing was ever the same again. I can still see him, lying there on the floor, he looked so surprised."

"**Ok, you killed your dad. Ok, that does not shock me!**"

"—The star-shaped soapstone stained by his blood-"

"**Oh!**"

"-fell to the floor with a sonorous thud. Blame me not for I was but a child, with careful ambition I dared a smile. –"

It was a delightful poem.

"Rest in peace, papa."

The recording ended.

"**Yeah, that was a poem all right. That note I read before makes a little more sense now, with his star stuff. Although I kind of guessed at that…assuming that she did in fact kill him with that, but…then again that's just par for the course.**"

Justine glanced over some of the drawings as Célestin talked and moved into the next room when he finished.

"**Stupid etchings…**"

Behind the door was a fog-filled stone labyrinth with red writing all over its walls. Célestin read some aloud while Justine tried to find their way out.

"**What will the perfect **_**sss**_** – sphere bring?**"

_An orb?_

"**We must hurry, it's not too late. It will be the end of everything. Stay alive – terrible movie. The tattered yellow – God, I hate this fucking fisheye thing – king shall dethrone. What we got up here? Suffer the…. Suffer the trial – ok. Through the gates…blah, blah, blah, from beyond it comes…. The players will blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It will be again among us. Shall blah, blah…it pleases me. That's good to know. **_**Lonely**_**. The prefect – oh, ok I read that one already. Now they're just looping.**"

_Then stop reading and tell me how to get out of here!_

"_**Gluttony**_**. Oh father. Am I in a maze?**"

_Oh no, Célestin. This can't be a fucking maze._

"**Ah, still crystal clear, so this isn't hurting me in any way, I guess.**"

_It's foggy as fuck, what do you mean by 'crystal clear'?_

"**I'm going in a circle here. Is there a way to turn over this way? Yeah…. I have no idea where the fuck I am.**"

_I thought you knew what was going to happen! You knew about the inspector and the door, so why can't you see the way out of a God damn maze?_

"**It's like walking through a funhouse…**"

_Minus the fun._

Célestin remained silent the rest of the journey and eventually Justine found her way to the last room. She entered and closed the door behind her, looking up at a phonograph which hung upside down with a dummy. Célestin finally spoke again as if he had never stopped and the recording played without being cranked.

"**-own thing.**"

"And so it comes to an end."

There was a wooden bar to block the door and Justine set it into place out of bored curiosity.

"Now that you have seen what you-"

"**Take that! Ha.**"

"-truly are, you are able to go on and face eternity-"

"**Kay.**"

"-without fear – without doubt."

Justine looked over the hanging body.

"**So is that your papa? Justine – oh.**"

The walls were slowly moving together and if Justine did not find a way out she would be crushed.

"**Oh dear…**"

Gears were exposed on the opposite wall and Justine tried to jam them with a piece of wood.

"**Jam these!**"

The gears flung the wood out of Justine's hand and Célestin made loud noises of response.

"**Ok, something bigger!**"

Justine tried a box. The same thing happened.

"**JOOKIE-DOOKIE! Nope, how 'bout a rock? Something that will fit inbetween…**"

The same result.

"**No? How 'bout my hand?**"

Justine was desperate enough to try it. She tried to grab the gears to stop them but she was both repelled and badly injured. Justine bit her lower lip and clutched her hand in agony.

"**OW MY FUCKING HAND!**"

_SHUT THE FUCK UP!_

"**WHY WOULD I THINK THAT WOULD WORK?**"

She had one other plan and started a blockade of the two boxes and assorted bits to try and stop the machine. Justine knew it would be nothing short of a miracle if this worked but trying to spring a miracle was better than giving up.

"**I didn't really…. Here, I'll stack these two boxes side-to-side…and uh…stack everything else along with it…maybe they won't get crushed?**"

Justine stood behind her two boxes of protection and hoped for the best.

"**And I'll stand here, because I seem to be thinner than them.**"

Hope was not enough though. Justine was overcome not by panic this time but by pure fear. She felt dizzy as the walls came closer and closer together.

"**Oh, don't black out now.**"

_I'll miss you, Célestin. Maybe I'll see you in the afterlife._

"**I had to have done something right here. COME ON! DON'T KILL ME! I HAVE WORKED MY **_**ASS **_**OFF TO GET TO THIS POINT! I WILL END YOU, GAME! I WILL END YOU!**"

_Farewell, Célestin._

Justine had fainted. Célestin probably spoke on but she could no longer hear him. She awoke with frightened gasps for air as she saw the walls move apart. Justine remembered everything.

"_**Fooled you~.**_"

"This…this was the best one yet."

"**Yay!**"

"So elaborate – it's just…too much."

_I even received a permanent voice in my head._

"**That's Justine in the first-person…**"

"Enough of this. Get up Justine."

"**No…**"

There was knocking on the door Justine had entered by and the men she had saved were speaking to her.

"Well done, child."

"**No…!**"

"God be praised. You have saved us, child. Open the door."

"**No.**"

"Hey, you? We are almost free, come on, get us out of here."

Justine paced the room and considered whether or not to let Célestin be the paragon he wanted to be. She decided no.

"**I can't.**"

"It's all right, no one will be coming through that door. It's locked and bolted."

"**Well…**"

Justine examined the wonderful room and looked to the gears which had hurt her hand.

"Such intricate machinery. I can't for the life of me understand why he built this…"

"**Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree if that helps you.**"

The boxes she had stacked provided a stand for Justine to look at the dummy. The odd thing made her think of the slides and the different men she used to represent her and her days.

"That's me…isn't it?"

"**No…**"

"All covered in chains."

"**It looks like a dummy. Not gonna lie…**"

_Not literally, Célestin. I'm not that insane._

Justine looked at the light filtering in from above when she hopped down. Célestin must be in a sort of limbo or heaven right now.

"Such light was never meant for me."

Célestin sighed as Justine went out the only other door.

"**I was Justine the whole fucking time. That's all I'm going with…kinda pissed off now…kinda pissed.**"

_You are a very weird and wonderful god, Célestin._

Justine shut and locked the door behind her.

"I really should keep this door locked."

She double-checked that it had indeed locked.

"**Welp, it's locked now.**"

Satisfied, Justine went on through the halls and up the stairs as Célestin sighed again.

"**So this is what I get huh?**"

_Come now, Célestin, I'll find some way to make this worthwhile for you. I'll even paint an Easter egg for you._

Above Justine, in the main part of the castle, she could hear Clarice calling.

"Mademoiselle Justine, are you down there? Is everything all right?"

She always was one to worry, though given the condition of Justine's hand she was well within her rights.

"**Yes, apparently!**"

"Of course, Clarice, I'm quite all right."

"_**Yes, Clarice~. Tststststst~**_"

_Oh, Célestin, don't start acting like a devil now._

"Is everything ready for tonight?"

"_**How 'bout your liver? Tststststst~**_"

"Yes. The goose is ready any minute now, the guests should be arriving within the hour."

Justine was excited to have new toys for her games. She went through her pockets and pulled out the shipment slip. It had been partially damaged by the water but it should be fine.

"Clarice, I know it's a bust day, but make sure to post this letter for me, ok?"

Justine finally reached the upper level of her home; the only level the lucky guests knew of.

"**Justine, what a delicious amuse-bouche~.**"

_Good to know you speak French, Célestin._

"Certainly, Mademoiselle Justine. Urgent, is it?"

"Not really, it's already years late. I just thought they should know…I'm still alive."

Célestin laughed darkly and after a few moments Justine finally allowed herself to laugh, but she did not know that she and Célestin were now separated.

"-**I could kill them I would!**"

Justine was on the ground, her head pounding as a voice angrily spoke in her head and something in the distance gave an eerie moan. She gasped for air and saw herself in a cell. Her memory was fading but still present.

"**You know, it's time for a fucking speed run. That's right, get up – oh wait, no. This is the God damn cut scene thing again.**"

Justine turned and tried to lift herself. She saw Alois outside the barred door.

"**Oh hey, what's up, FUCKER? Come on! Come at me! Yeah, come on, open this damn door and bring it on! I will blind you again! Seeing as I'm that kind of a bitch.**"

Vision came and went as Justine faded into sleep.

"**No – GET UP!**"

Soon Justine was awakened by the voice speaking again.

"**Apparently I can't stand on my own two fucking feet but…ok, we ready? Ready to get up now? Huh?**"

Dazed and confused, Justine reached for the cell door. It was locked firmly.

"**Yeah, I know, the door's locked firmly, whatever.**"

Justine could stand at last as she drank in the blurry sight of where she was.

"**Won't be in a second.**"

There was a phonograph with a rope tied around the crank. Justine turned it and started the recording.

"**Let's crank this God damn handle.**"

"Bienvenue-"

"**SHUT THE FUCK UP!**"

Justine grabbed a lantern from above her and watched the padlock break off of the door.

"-you are now listening to the sound of my disembodied voice. It will serve you no purpose to look for me, for this is a voice from the past."

The voice made a whining mockery of the recording as Justine left it behind. She did not know what the voice in her head was but it seemed best to hurry up so long as it was around.

"I bid you welcome-"

"-_**TO MY CABINET OF PERTURBATION!**_"

The phonograph was too far away to hear now.

"**God…**"

_I'll call you Achille, it means 'he who embodies the grief of people'. I'm not sure why that's something I remember but I do so there you are._

"**stupid ass – I can't even run in the beginning.**"

_I would, but I don't know what could be here._

"**Until I get into that one room I can't run.**"

Something wailed from below and Justine saw a strange creature through a small barred window at ground level.

"**Hey, 'sup, bitch?**"

Justine's head pounded as she continued and Achille made more strange sounds.

"**God, I'm like, lumbering.**"

There was a broken piece of a ladder and Justine took it with her, tying it to herself with a decorative cord from her outfit as she walked.

"**Like I'm a God damn bear or something. Come on. Come on, maybe jumping will move me faster, like a God damn kangaroo.**"

Jumping was given a chance, though more for fully awakening Justine's body than moving faster. When she reached the door to the main area she took to running like Achille wanted.

"**Key, now that monster'll spawn, so I gotta let him FUCKING pass…**"

In case there was a monster Justine hid in the first cell on the left. She threw a barrel to attract it to the noise on the other side as one did indeed call.

"**Trip, trip, go on, trip…I fucking dare you. Come on, trip on it. TRIP ON IT!**"

_You have issues…._

"**Please? I'll be your best friend…slash won't blind you again or whatever – but if you trip on it, just come on, come on, hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it! Hit the barrel! Hit the barrel!**"

The monster came into view and passed without touching the barrel.

"**Damnit!**"

Justine slowly edged towards the beast as it left out the door. Achille groaned and Justine shut the monster out.

"**Fuck's sake…. See ya', fucker.**"

"How could this happen…?"

Justine was walking away but turned to look at the door. The monster had spoken.

"**Coming back? No? Didn't think so. Well let's see, I could stack all these up and get that wax canister again. Thank gr-**"

"Whoever you are-"

"**SHUT THE FUCK UP!**"

"-I would be much obliged."

Justine did not dare say a word around Achille now.

"**And then I could stack all the boxes over HERE, to climb back up there again…in order to save this asshole. How's it going?**"

"Help me, please, help me."

"**Ok, I'll help ya' – SHUT THE FUCK UP!**"

There was a lever by the cell and Justine pulled it, unsure of what would happen.

"Please! Please, be reasonable. You don't have to do this."

"**Yeah I do.**"

Inside the cell a red spear of some sort had positioned itself over the man. If the lever was pulled again he would surely die.

"**Ah, it didn't go all the way!**"

Achille was either psychotic or knew something. Either way if anyone here died it could not be blamed on another victim. Justine looked back to the lever and pulled it again before returning to the door to watch.

"Can you hear me? It's not too late to set things right."

It did not take. Justine went back and hoisted down once more.

"**Is it?**"

The man screamed in pain as the point of the metal spear stabbed through him and pulled back out with his entrails covering the metal.

"Argh! Why?"

"**SUCK IT! BE MY EASY WAY OUT!**"

Achille laughed in a shrill mad voice as the man made his last few moments. Behind Justine was a ladder to a higher level.

"**Ok, we doing this.**"

_That was…fun. Hearing his creams were so delightful~!_

Justine climbed up into a series of stone tunnels.

"**Come on, now don't climb the ladder like a tard~.**"

Achille sang with a series of single syllables. He was as happy as Justine was. When he stopped a monster made its wail but Justine went on fearlessly.

"_**Oh no, it's the outside monster**_**. Surely it will try to kill me, despite the fact that I know that there's no monster in this God damn tunnel. Hey roach, how's it going? Sup, other roach? Roaches are my hommies.**"

Achille resumed his song and Justine reached a way out. Justine jumped down and ran off the pain.

"**And jumping – ah! Broke my ankles, I don't give a shit. That's that thing…in there is another God damn vivaphone…but I don't care. Hey leg, whatever. It's like, 'Hey! You didn't do this before.' And guess what? I don't give a shit! Hey, here's the library.**"

Justine entered what was apparently the library.

"**Let's go through this again. I bet I can find a way to make a shortcut. Don't you guys think? 'Cause I think I can find a shortcut!**"

_Guys? How many people are in my head?_

"**Rather than going through all those God damn slides…. There's gotta be a faster way! Surely, surely there must. Come on.**"

Achille continued his song and Justine ran into one of the rooms. In the back there was a strange contraption.

"**Hey, buddy!**"

"Wh-who are you? Who's there?"

"**OH, NOTHING MUCH!**"

There was a lever and Justine pulled it down in excitement over the screams she knew she would hear. Chains and cranks sounded as the man was obviously stretched.

"ARGH! Have mercy…!"

"**No. Oh, maybe I do need the slides.**"

"You'll burn for this…"

_You really should think about your words more._

Justine picked up a slide from a nearby table.

"**What's this one? Slide four? Yeah, I remember putting slide four in there. But hold on, hold on. I don't need to figure out the puzzle until I, you know, shut you the hell up.**"

"Sick, twisted-"

_Stupid priest._

"**Shut up!**"

Justine pulled the lever again. The chains tightened further and the priest whimpered in pain.

"**Got anything else to say? Do ya'? Do ya'?**"

"Our father who art in heaven-"

"**Shut up.**"

Down the lever went and further the chains stretched the man.

"Ugh!"

"**Does it take more than three to kill you?**"

_I wouldn't mind so much if your reactions were better._

"King of kings-"

"**Yep.**"

Justine pulled the lever down a final time.

"Argh! The trumpet…shall sound…argh!"

The chains pulled the man to his limit and limbs were either split or ripped of completely as Justine heard blood spurt to freedom. The priest grew silent as he evidently died. Justine ran to find a way out.

"**Yeah, the trumpet shall sound, and it'll sound like: **_**wah-wah-wawawawawawawa~.**_"

One of the rooms was filled with bookcases and in the very back was a secret passage waiting for Justine.

"**It's in your honor buddy.**"

Justine ran past another phonograph.

"**Hey, bitch.**"

Eventually there was a door to a rather large area. Once inside the lights went out.

"**There'll be a monster in here.**"

A monster wailed.

"**So guess what, I'm gonna creep around this way…slide into this corner…maybe grab a potato…**"

Justine did just as the voice said in a strange tone. The monster spoke as she waited.

"I will find you…"

"**Will ya? Will ya really? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're blind.**"

_That just makes this funnier._

"I will kill you, you cunt."

"**Aw that's a shame.**"

"I will kill you, you cunt."

"**Really? Ya – what are you? 'I WILL KILL YOU, YOU CUNT! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU CUNT!'**"

Justine held her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as the man-monster limped in front of her hiding spot.

"**YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP! HEY, I'm talking to ya!**"

He limped away and Justine sneaked past.

"**I'm talking to you, dick-weed! Whatever.**"

Achille's bold nature was inspiring, though Justine would like to see one of these 'monsters' up close.

"**Guess what, I can outrun you now, so once I find the button – there it is.**"

Trusting Achille's word, Justine stood and ran for freedom with the monster following after her.

"**Come and catch me, motherfucker!**"

Justine wanted to shout the same thing, but doing so after Achille already had was not as fun.

"**Whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop! Yeah, play your God damn chase music and your…musical saws, and your trumpets, and your drums. I don't give a shit!**"

Justine had escaped into the next room already and hoped there would be a third monster in a place with better lighting. She could not think of a better way to end her life. Besides, she had already killed two men. Who would want her to live? Next she found water, and a swim sounded divine.

"**Come on, let's do this.**"

Justine found a broken lever in another room and left to find it a home.

"**I don't even give a shit about **_**Daniel's**_** letter. Fucking Daniel.**"

_That should be his name, Mr. Fucking Daniel~._

"**I DON'T LIKE ANY CHARACTER IN THIS GOD DAMN FRANCHISE! Do you know how BAD that is?**"

_Deplorably bad?_

"**All right, let's do this.**"

Justine set the lever into its new home and pulled it to open the door and swim inside.

"**Open…close.**"

_If you say so._

The door closed when Justine pulled the second lever. She went off to continue her fun.

"**Door…**_**BUM, BUM, BUM…BUM**_**. Yeah, yeah FUCKING thing…**"

A large gear joined Justine on her adventure.

"**Now start hitting the door, like I know you're gonna do.**"

The monster began beating away at the door; Achille was right.

"**THERE YOU ARE! I was wondering where you were!**"

Justine hurried to the next room, determined to have the best send off she could think of.

"**BUM, BUM, BUM! He's playing his own drums on the door. It's like he doesn't even let the orchestra do its job anymore.**"

Justine put the cogwheel in its place, amazed that the monster had not broken in given how loudly it was beating the door. She ran for the main area and the way out.

"**Here I go…**"

Justine pulled the lever and the monster finally got in. She dashed into the next area and closed him out again.

_You're being outrun by little ol me? How sad~._

"**AND NOW YOU!**"

"You there, help me-"

Achille sounded more upset than usual. Justine ran into an open area and saw a man tied to the wall, partially submerged in the water. If this man was responsible for so much of Achille's rage he was the ideal person to go with Justine.

"**WE DIE TOGETHER, MOTHERFUCKER! WE WILL DIE TOGETHER!**"

Achille laughed like a mad man. Granted he was but it was still so infections. Justine held her laughter as she had already decided not to respond to Achille. The monster beat at the door and now every time Achille spoke Justine moved closer to the door the monster was behind.

"**I DON'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT! GET IN HERE, ASSHOLE! BREAK THAT DOOR! DO IT! DO IT YOU PANSY! BREAK IT! BREAK THE GOD DAMN DOOR! BREAK IT! BREAK IT! DO IT!**"

Justine backed back towards the man.

"**Can you even break it? Can you? I'm wondering…**"

"Hey, can anyone hear me?"

"**I don't think he can do it…maybe I have to turn a knob first. Huh?**"

_If that'll get him in here._

Justine inched the turning wheel of the door the man was in.

"**How 'bout that? Break it!**"

She went to try a second wheel but she did not even touch it when the monster broke in.

"**There he goes.**"

"What's going on out there?"

Justine rejoined the man.

_Something wonderful~._

"**NOW WE DIE TOGETHER, ASSWIPE! COME ON!**"

The man continued speaking but next to nothing he said was audible so long as Achille was shouting. The monster was in the center area, away from Justine.

_How dare you avoid me!_

"**No, you get in here! You are not that easy to dodge!**"

He was standing still like a buffoon. Justine jumped repeatedly to splash the water and grab his attention.

"**Come on. I – am right – the fuck – here! Get in here! Get the fuck in here!**"

It finally worked and Justine went back into position by the man as the monster came for them. Justine resumed jumping as it stood in front of the door for good measure.

"**Now kill us! I'm right here, dickface!**"

The 'monster' entered and Justine could fully drink in the sight of it from the thighs up. It was a frail, well-endowed, bald man with a carriage-wheel stuck on his neck, chains on his left arm, a large X across his chest, various wounds and blood trail covering his body, and only sockets where his eyes should be.

_He's very handsome~._

"**COME ON!**"

Justine stopped jumping and the monster slashed at her neck, taking her life quickly. She fell into the water in front of the inspector as Achille laughed a final time. The man ate away at Justine's flesh as she could neither move nor speak. All she could do was feel him act.

"**Now kill him!**"


End file.
